I am reposting one of my blog posts in the light of the news of the 10-year-old Briony who died from herpex simplex virus which the doctors failed to diagnose.

In this blog post I wrote about a dental nurse who contracted the herpes simplex virus whilst the dentist was treating a patient with a cold sore. I wrote that the GP diagnosed a primary herpes (meaning she had never had herpes infection which most people do have as a child). What I did not share with you was the fact that the dental nurse attended the GP’s practice on Friday and the GP sent her home thinking she had gingivitis. The nurse tried to tell the GP that she had seen a periodontist in her practice due to the ulceration in her mouth and it definitely wasn’t gingivitis. Nevertheless the GP advised the use of chlorhexidine mouthwash and sent her home.

Over the weekend she developed high fever (40 degrees) and could not eat anything due to sore mouth. At this point the ulceration was covering every corner of her mouth including the lips. She returned the GP’s practice on Monday morning and was barely able to stand up. Still the GP insisted it was gingivitis. But at that point the nurse realised the GP needed to see more than what he could with her just opening the mouth and him poking with this wooden spatula. So she grinned as wide as she could. The GP jumped back and said “Well that is definitely a herpes infection!” and prescribed the antiviral medication.